Why do they hate the Jews?
By Charles A. Morse
web posted January 7, 2002
Fox TV news correspondent Rita Cosby asked Yasser Arafat in
a televised interview (12/28) whether there would be more
suicide bombers sent into Israel. Rather than answering question
directly, Arafat launched into a predictable litany of atrocity
propaganda alleging that Israel is oppressive and threatening that
"our people are still patient. But patience has limits." In other
words, yes, there will be more suicide bombers attempting to
blow up Israeli children and Holocaust survivors.
The Palestinian Authority news agency, in response to Israel's
refusal to let Arafat into Bethlehem until his government stops
sanctioning the assassins of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam
Zeevi quotes a resident of Bethlehem as saying "Jesus had
suffered on the hands of the Jews and we and our president are
now facing the same." Arafat, the terrorist who is able to turn on
and off the mass murder spigot is comparing himself to Jesus of
Nazareth whose ministry never condoned or employed
terrorism. This is nothing more than the old and inflammatory
slander that the Jews were responsible for the killing of Christ.
So, why do they hate the Jews to such a diabolical degree that
they would, like their Nazi predecessors who conducted the
Holocaust, conduct such hateful acts as the blowing up of
innocent people because they happen to be Jews? Why would
anyone, for example, machinegun a kindergarten in Maalot,
Israel as if it were a military target and murder 25 toddlers? The
broader question we are presented with is why have the Jews
attracted such hatred going back to the days when the Pharaoh
of Egypt, in the book of Exodus, ordered the murder of every
Israelite first born.
Historically, Jews have been scapegoated during economic
depressions, wars, or social unrest. A common scenario was
when a ruling elite of a given nation, confronting a crisis, would
spread conspiracy theories regarding the "alien" Jew to shift
attention away from their own culpability. Individual Jews would
curry favor with the same ruling elite in exchange for privileges
and a degree of protection, a position that would backfire. This
trend, along with a drive to conform and achieve acceptance in a
sometimes dangerous world, could explain why so many Jews
have associated themselves with an elitist left which seeks
absolute power as an article of political faith.
In the Islamic world today Jews are blamed for every political,
economic, and even personal problem. In the Fox interview,
Arafat speaks of "those who are facing the starvation, facing the
unemployment, facing this siege, facing the tragedy of their
families - the poverty of their families. Some of them, they didn't
find food to eat." Before Arafat and his government launched the
intifada in Sept. 2000, investment capital was pouring in to the
West Bank and Gaza from all over the world and Israel was
working closely with the Palestinian Authority toward
establishing a prosperous and peaceful Palestinian Arab State. In
most of the rest of the Islamic world, populations are being
conditioned with hateful propaganda against Jews by ruling elites
who seek to divert attention away from their own totalitarian
dictatorships and their own responsibility for the pervasive
misery and poverty wracking their countries.
So why then do they hate the Jews? Perhaps the answer to this
question is more spiritual than temporal. When one takes a moral
stand, or is perceived to be taking a moral stand, one risks
bringing calumny upon their heads by those who don't want to be
reminded of moral responsibility. If you don't believe me, try
expressing a strong moral conviction next time you attend a
public or family gathering and see what the reaction is. Jews are
perceived as having a moral mission because of the Torah which
clearly articulates moral maxims and which is the cornerstone of
the Jewish faith. Jews are not necessarily more moral than
anyone else but this is irrelevant. The issue is that Jews believe,
or are assumed to believe, that they were chosen by G-d to
receive the Torah at Sinai, and because much of the rest of the
world either believes this as well or resents the fact that Jews
believe it, Jews are held to a higher moral standard than other
nations. Believing, or being perceived to believe in a divine moral
code, is both a blessing and a burden.
Chuck Morse (http://www.chuckmorse.com/) is the author of
the recently released Why I'm a Right-Wing Extremist which is
available at http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/7510.
Enter Stage Right - http://www.enterstageright.com